Some Things you Need to Know About Google Penguin

If you’re an online marketer, it’s important you know about Google updates as they take place. The updates will transform your entire marketing campaign, changing the way you build links, write content, and network with other bloggers. However, for you to make real changes to your campaign, you need to understand some of the finer points of each update. For example, the recent Google Penguin update has brought a lot of changes helping some while destroying others. I’ll explain what you can expect from Google Penguin and how you can protect yourself.

Aimed at Link Manipulation

Google has introduced Penguin twice in 2016, and both updates have been aimed at stopping link manipulation. Some bloggers have been using tools to create ordinary-looking links which creates an unfair playing field. Google is working hard to detect unprotected links so that they can adjust the rankings accordingly. One way they are doing this is by digging even deeper to find the source of the link and its value. By digging deeper, Google will be able to find where the links are coming from and other links that may be attached to them. Unprotected links have a very poor profile which can be traced.

To protect yourself, you should focus on getting only secure links which are relevant and full of authority. We’ll explore both these points later on.

Continuous Penalties

Whenever there has been a previous update, Google would penalize a lot of sites, then stop until the next update. However, Penguin is aimed at continuously penalizing so that no site can get away with manipulation. Many times manipulators would survive the update and continue to build unsecure links. However, with continuous small updates these manipulators don’t stand a chance.

The way to protect yourself from continuous penalties is to ensure you follow all the link-building rules from the beginning.

Higher Emphasis on Relevance

There has never been more of an emphasis on relevance than in 2016. This change is because of the user search pattern and what people are typing into Google. The search pattern has shifted from one keyword to phrases consisting of two to three keywords. This means that Google needs to ensure that websites are optimized so that they continue to provide people with higher value. The Penguin update will pay closer attention to the relevance of sites linking to yours because this will determine what your site is about more than before. For example, if you have a cooking website, then a link from an automotive website will hold no value.

For you to keep increasing rankings, you should focus on building relevant links or networking with other relevant bloggers.

Authority

You’ll get more benefit from one authority website compared to ten low-quality sites. The reason is very simple because authority matters to Google. If more high authority websites link to yours, it shows Google that you have something great to offer. You can increase the likelihood of higher authority sites linking to yours by providing great content. You need to write content which solves a common problem in your niche and that people will love to share. When your content is shared, it will increase the likelihood of getting authority links back to your page.

Focus on networking with high authority websites and writing awesome content. The more value provided within your content, the higher number of social shares you’ll receive. This will get your content in front of the right people, increasing authority link backs to your page.

Diversity

Above I talked about how the user search pattern is changing to lengthier keywords. To help meet user search requirements, it’s important that you focus on latent semantic indexing (related) words, and long-tail keywords (with two to three keywords). The focus should be to create a diverse portfolio of keywords in your content before you publish. The ratio is anywhere from 2%-3% which shouldn’t be a problem if your content is 2,000-2,500 words. Writing content this long is a norm now that higher-quality content ranks higher than others. Here’s a blueprint to follow:

Head over to the Google Keyword Planner tool to conduct research. Gather target, LSI, and long-tail keywords to incorporate into your content.

Final Thoughts

Google will continue to introduce updates to better their search interface. You have to understand that Google’s main business model is to provide people with the best search experience. They’ll do whatever needs to be done to make sure the user search pattern is not jeopardized. Check out our Google Penguin 4.0 Infographic to learn more about the recent changes in their algorithm.